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It all started in the late 80's when Tom S. Englund and Dan Bronell played the classical guitar together
then moved on to death metal. End of 1993/1994 Tom and Dan formed Evergrey (the name of the group was
found in a difficult context). The band recorded their first demo with Andy Laroque at Los Angered Recording
in 1995, and recorded their second demo in early 1996.
At the end of 1996 Evergrey makes contact with a label to record their debut album (The Dark Discovery).
But things started to fall apart and 3 months before the recording, the leadsinger left the band and Tom
became singer, which he wasn't at that time. So Tom's wife Carina gave him some vocal-lessions, and it all
turned out to really great. In 1998 Evergrey signed a record deal with (Gothenburg Noiseworks)
and the album (The Dark Discovery) was thereafter released.
Evergrey's lyrics have always been of the darker sort. The same can be said of the band's imagery.
While (The Dark Discovery) dealt with a variety of ideas, later albums have been concept albums,
dealing with issues like self-reformation (Recreation Day), paranoia, alien abduction (In Search of Truth),
child abuse, cults and religion (The Inner Circle). (Recreation Day) is an album that covers many issues,
ranging from death and mourning to general fear and sorrow, all of which contribute to a greater
concept of re-creation of oneself. These ideas are explored from many different points of view,
such as someone contemplating suicide ("As I Lie Bleeding"), mourners after a funeral
("I'm Sorry," a cover of Dilba Demirbag's hit), and dying people's looking back on
their "unforgivable" sins ("Unforgivable Sin"). "Unforgivable Sin" also acted as a catalyst
for the next album, (The Inner Circle), which dealt with the same two issues described in the
song: religion and child abuse.
On April 4, 2006, Evergrey released their sixth studio album, (Monday Morning Apocalypse).
The album was produced and mixed by Sanken Sandquist and Stefan Glauman, former producers
of Rammstein, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, among others. Tom S. Englund said, regarding the
collaboration: "We feel honoured to work with such amazing producers. We are sure that they
will succeed in making us sound better than ever before". The album debuted at #6 in Sweden.
During summer 2006, Evergrey played at many festivals throughout Europe: among others, Sweden
Rock Festival, Download Festival, Arvika Festival, Masters of Rock, Storsjöyran and Sziget Festival.
From May 5 to May 30, the band toured the United States with In Flames, Nevermore and Throwdown.
On September 15 they headlined Prog Power VII in Atlanta, Georgia.
On July 25, 2006, Michael Håkansson leaves Evergrey and is replaced by the band's longtime
friend Fredrik Larsson (Hammerfall) only as a temporary bass player.
On October 24, 2006, Evergrey started a new European tour. They were supported by fellow Swedish
death metal band Avatar, and they visited Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands,
Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden.
Evergrey have recently returned to their rehearsal studios to prepare their next studio album.
The new album is currently being recorded and is expected to be released before Christmas 2008.
The bass guitar was being recorded by Tom and Henrik in the absence of a bassist, but as of August
6, 2007, Jari Kainulainen (Stratovarius) permanently filled the role.
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